Block Island, RI 24 June 2007

We spent Saturday walking from the New Harbor Boat Basin to the town at Old Harbor. The fields were full of wild flowers and the cottages along the way had climbing pink and yellow roses as well as blue and violet hydrangea. Song birds and butterflies were a delight to hear and see. The cottages are beautiful gray shingles and some have the round stone fences or white picket yards.





We used the Harbor Boat taxi service to pick us up and take use to shore. You can see the taxi approaching our boat "Jabberwocky"











The white sandy beaches were crowded with week-enders enjoying the sun. This is a picture of the beach at Old Harbor which has many activities such as para sailing, kayaks and paddle boats for rental as well as bikes and mopeds. There is a ferry service that runs between Block Island and the mainland. Everyone was wearing shorts and tank tops. Gordon and I were still in slacks since we got acclimated to the warmer weather in Florida. It still gets down to 50 degrees at night while we are on the boat! We were used to 78 degrees water temperature and 90 degrees air temperature! However, we hear warmer weather is on the way!


The quieter side of town facing the Ocean and the higher cliffs of the island. Block Island was discovered by Giovanni da Verrazano in 1524 but named for Adriaen Block who arrived 90 years later and claimed it for his own. The cliffs on the southern side of the island are called the Mohegan Bluffs because the Manissean Indians drove the Mohegan tribe across the moors and over the cliffs to their deaths.

Gordon enjoying a fine day at New Harbor Boat Basin. We came into the harbor just at the end of Race Week-so harbor was full of boats coming and going!